COULOMB’s LAW

OBJECTIVES
• State that there are positive and negative charges,
and that charge is measured in coulombs.
• Predict charge distributions, and the resulting
attraction or repulsion, in a system of charged
insulators and conductors
• Calculate the net electric force on a point charge
exerted by a system of point charges
ELECTROSTATIC FORCE
The act of REPELLING implies pushing and
the act of ATTRACTING suggests pulling.
PUSH or PULL pertains to FORCE.
An electric charge exerts a force on each other
as they interact.
 ELECTROSTATIC FORCE
A force that comes from the attraction and
repulsion between electric charges.

⃗ 𝒌 𝒒 𝟏 𝒒𝟐 • Where is the electrostatic force

𝑭 𝒆= 𝟐
𝒓 • and are the mgnitudes of the charges

• is the distance between charges

• is Coulomb’s constant
COULOMB’S LAW
In 1785 Charles Coulomb (1736–1806)
experimentally established the fundamental law of
electric force between two stationary charged
particles.
Coulomb’s major contribution to science was
in the field of electrostatics and magnetism.
During his lifetime, he also investigated the
strengths of materials and identified the forces
that affect objects on beams, thereby
contributing to the field of structural
mechanics.
COULOMB’S LAW
An electric force has the following properties:
1. It is directed along a line joining the two particles and is
inversely proportional to the square of the separation
distance r, between them.
2. It is proportional to the product of the magnitudes of the
charges, and , of the two particles.
3. It is attractive if the charges are of opposite sign and
repulsive if the charges have the same sign.
COULOMB’S LAW
From these observations, Coulomb proposed the following
mathematical form for the electric force between two charges:

applies exactly only to point charges and to spherical distributions of charges, in

which case r is the distance between the two centers of charge.
COULOMB’S LAW

Electric forces between unmoving charges are called

ELECTROSTATIC FORCES.
Moving charges, in addition, create MAGNETIC FORCES.
COULOMB’S LAW
• The value of the Coulomb constant depends on the
choice of units.
• The SI unit of charge is the coulomb (C).
• The Coulomb constant in SI units has the value
𝟐
𝒎 𝟗
𝒌𝒆 =𝟖 . 𝟗𝟖𝟕 𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎 𝑵 ∙ 𝟐
𝑪
COULOMB’S LAW
• The charge on the proton has a magnitude of
• Therefore, it would take protons to create a total charge of
+1.0 C.
• Likewise, electrons would have a total charge of 1.0 C.
COULOMB’S LAW
Table 15.1 lists the charges and masses of the electron,
proton, and neutron.
COULOMB’S LAW
• When using Coulomb’s force law,
remember that force is a vector quantity
and must be treated accordingly.
• Picture shows the electric force of
repulsion between two positively
charged particles.
COULOMB’S LAW
• Like other forces, electric forces obey
Newton’s third law; hence, the forces
and are equal in magnitude but
opposite in direction.
• From Newton’s third law, and are
always equal regardless of whether q1
and q2 have the same magnitude.
COULOMB’S LAW & GRAVITATIONAL FORCE
• The Coulomb force is similar to the gravitational
force.
• Both act at a distance without direct contact.
• Both are inversely proportional to the distance
squared, with the force directed along a line
connecting the two bodies.
COULOMB’S LAW & GRAVITATIONAL FORCE
• There are two important differences:
(1) electric forces can be either attractive or repulsive,
but gravitational forces are always attractive,
(2) the electric force between charged elementary
particles is far stronger than the gravitational force
between the same particles, as the next example
shows.
COULOMB’S LAW Force Force
of B of A
• It means that stronger charges will on A on B
result in a stronger force and weaker + -
charges will result in a weaker force.
A B
• The greater the distance between
charges, the weaker is the force Force Force
of C
between them. of D
on D
on C
• The force strengthens as the charges + +
move closer to each other. C D
SUMMARY
As charges move farther from each other,
the electrostatic force between them
weakens. As they move nearer each
other, this force strengthens.
PUNCH LINE:
As two people move farther from each
other, their relationship usually weakens
because of their separation. On the other
hand, relationship gets stronger when
two people find time to be together.
#LDR
THANK YOU 